Bedlington Terriers F.C.

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Bedlington Terriers

Full name

Bedlington Terriers Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Terriers

Founded

1949 (as Bedlington Mechanics)

Ground

Dr Pit Welfare Park, Bedlington

Capacity

2000

Manager

Keith Perry

League

Northern League Division One

2012–13

Northern League Division One, 12th

Home colours

Away colours

Bedlington Terriers F.C. are a football club based in Bedlington, England. They were established in 1949 and joined the Northern Alliance in 1980 and joined the Northern League when it expanded to two divisions 3 years later. In the 1998–99 season, they reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup - beating Colchester United 4–1^[1] on the way - and also reached Wembley in the FA Vase final, losing 1–0 to a late goal from Tiverton Town. By 2006 they were experiencing a number of financial and organisational problems.

Since experiencing these problems, the club has returned to being back to normal with a new committee and with the Chairman Dave Holmes taking over the running of the club. Dave stepped down due to heavy work commitments in 2012 and the reins where taken over by Ronan Liddane, a former player enjoying great success with Blyth Spartans, Newcastle Blue Star and Bishop Auckland.

History

Early years

The club was founded in 1949 as Bedlington Mechanics and joined the Northern Combination League. The team won its first trophy in 1954 when they were victorious in the Northumberland Minor Cup. The success was continued the following season when they became champions of the Northern Combination.^[2] The club then joined the Northern Alliance League as Bedlington Colliery Welfare. The team won the Northern Alliance League Cup in 1958^[3] before disbanding in 1963.

The club was reformed in 1965 and rejoined the Northern Alliance League. In the 1966–67 season, the team won two trophies when they became the Northern Alliance league champions and cup winners, but dropped out of the league in 1971. The club went on to play in local amateur leagues for almost ten years before becoming members of the Northern Alliance League once again in 1980 (this time as Bedlington United).

In 1982, the club became one of the founding members of the Northern League Division Two. Promotion to Division One was achieved in 1985, but the club remained there for just two seasons before being relegated in 1987. By 1993, the club was at the bottom of Division Two and in serious danger of going out of business, but was saved by the financial support of local businessmen Dave and Keith Perry. The club was also renamed as Bedlington Terriers.

Bedlington Terriers (1993–present)

With the club now financially stable, instant success followed on the pitch, and the club became champions of Division Two in their first season under their new name. The club had a memorable season in 1998–99, defeating Colchester United 4–1 in the FA Cup before losing in the second round to Scunthorpe United. This remains the only season in their history where Bedlington have progressed beyond the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup.^[4] In the same season, the Terriers also became league champions after amassing a total of 101 points, and reached the final of the FA Vase, where they lost 1–0 to Tiverton Town.

With the start of the 2006–07 season approaching quickly and existence confirmed, Mel Harmison set about bringing together a young squad to keep the team going. During the season, Mel took a coaching role at the club and Tom Wade was brought in to guide the team. They narrowly avoided relegation to Northern League Division 2 after Newcastle Blue Star took promotion to the Northern Premier League at the end of the season after finishing in 20th place (2 of the 3 teams in relegation places were demoted). This was seen as a success given they had a very young group of players with very little or no experience at this level.

In the 2007–08 season saw the club bring back the old managerial partnership of Tony Lowery and Keith Perry midway through. They during the season brought in their own blend of experience and youth and guided the club to a 15th place finish.

In preparation for the 2008–09 season, the Terriers brought back some familiar names to the club including Colin Morton but also lost goalkeeper Karl Dryden, Craig McFarlane and Andy Carr to other clubs. They have however recently{when} announced the signings in former Brandon United, Blyth Spartans and Newcastle Blue Star striker Scott Bell and his former Blyth team mate Dale Crawford.

Emblem

The club badge was redesigned by Neil Douglass for the start of the 2008–9 campaign. It features the Latin phrase "Virtus Unita Fortis", which means "Together We Act Stronger" and a Bedlington Terrier, the local breed of dog after which the club are named, a dog famed for their ‘lamb-like’ appearance . The pit head winding gear is with reference to the coal mining heritage of the area but especially the Doctor Pit after which the club ground is named and the red and yellow bars are taken from the arms of Northumberland County Council based on the arms attributed by the medieval heralds to the ancient Kingdom of Bernicia.

Robert Rich sponsorship

On 4 November 2010, it was announced that American billionaire Robert Rich, owner of the Buffalo Bisons and Jamestown Jammers baseball teams, had become the new shirt sponsor of the club with his Rich Products brand. Rich, the 488th richest man in the world, became involved after tracing his family tree back to the area and after his wife Mindy purchased the title of Lord Bedlington for him as a gift. Mr. Rich has since announced the shipment of a £30,000 electronic scoreboard to the club's Welfare Park ground, and will be looking to turn the club shirts into a cult item for US sports fans.^[5] In June 2011, the team played friendlies in Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario.^[6]^[7] The trip and match were filmed and later made into a BBC documentary called Mr Rich and The Terriers^[8] The friendly between FC Buffalo and the Terriers was known as the "Lord Bedlington Cup," named after Rich.

Honours

Northern League Division One
- Champions 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02

Northern League Division Two
- Champions 1993–94

Records

FA Cup
- Second Round 1998–99

FA Trophy
- Third Qualifying Round 1986–87

FA Vase
- Runners-up 1998–99

References

↑ "Football Results". Soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
↑ "Sponsor's Booklet" (PDF). Bedlington Terriers F.C. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
↑ "Bedlington Terriers". Non-League Daily. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
↑ "Bedlington Terriers". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
↑ "We're in the money! Lowly Bedlington Terriers dreaming of league football after receiving backing from American billionaire". Daily Mail. 2010-11-04. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
↑ Sommer, Mark (2011-06-13). Trying to go from ragtag to Riches. The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
↑ "Toronto Croatia will defend their Croatian World Club Championship while the English are here for game with CSL’s Niagara United And ……… it’s magic". 24 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ "Mr Rich and the Terriers". BBC One. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2012.

External links

Official website

v t e Northern League

Division One	Ashington Bedlington Terriers Billingham Synthonia Billingham Town Bishop Auckland Celtic Nation Consett Crook Town Dunston UTS Durham City Guisborough Town Hebburn Town Marske United Morpeth Town Newcastle Benfield Newton Aycliffe Penrith Shildon Spennymoor Town Sunderland Ryhope Community Association Team Northumbria West Auckland Town Whitley Bay

Division Two	Alnwick Town Birtley Town Brandon United Chester-le-Street Town Darlington Railway Athletic Esh Winning Heaton Stannington Jarrow Roofing Boldon Community Association North Shields Northallerton Town Norton & Stockton Ancients Ryton & Crawcrook Albion Seaham Red Star South Shields Stokesley Sports Club Thornaby Tow Law Town Washington West Allotment Celtic Whickham Whitehaven Willington

Seasons	1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

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